Voltage regulator having an inductive current sensing element

ABSTRACT

A switching regulator includes an inductive element to provide a first voltage across the element and at least one switch to energize and de-energize the inductive element to produce an output voltage. A controller of the regulator constructs an indication of a current from the first voltage and operates the switch(es) to regulate the output voltage in response to the indication.

BACKGROUND

The invention generally relates to a voltage regulation system having an inductive current sensing element.

A DC-to-DC voltage regulator typically is used to convert a DC input voltage to either a higher or a lower DC output voltage. One type of voltage regulator is a switching regulator that is often chosen due to its small size and efficiency. The switching regulator typically includes one or more switches that are rapidly opened and closed to transfer energy between an inductor (a stand-alone inductor or a transformer, as examples) and an input voltage source in a manner that regulates the output voltage.

As an example, referring to FIG. 1, one type of switching regulator is a Buck switching regulator 10 that receives an input DC voltage (called V_(IN)) and converts the V_(IN) voltage to a lower regulated output voltage (called V_(OUT) ) that appears at an output terminal 11. To accomplish this, the regulator 10 may include a switch 20 (a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOSFET), for example) that is operated (via a switch control signal called V_(SW)) in a manner to regulate the V_(OUT) voltage, as described below.

Referring also FIGS. 2 and 3, in particular, the switch 20 opens and closes to control energization/de-energization cycles 19 (each having a duration called T_(S)) of an inductor 14. In each cycle 19, the regulator 10 asserts, (drives high, for example) the V_(SW) signal during an on interval (called T_(ON)) to close the switch 20 and transfer energy from an input voltage source 9 to the inductor 14. During the T_(ON) interval, a current (called I_(L)) of the inductor 14 has a positive slope. During an off interval (called T_(OFF)) of the cycle 19, the regulator 10 deasserts (drives low, for example) the V_(SW) voltage to open the switch 20 and isolate the input voltage source 9 from the inductor 14. At this point, the level of the I_(L) current is not abruptly halted, but rather, a diode 18 begins conducting to transfer energy from the inductor 14 to a bulk capacitor 16 and a load (not shown) that are coupled to the output terminal 11. During the T_(OFF) interval, the I_(L) current has a negative slope, and the regulator 10 may close a switch 21 to shunt the diode 18 to reduce the amount of power that is otherwise dissipated by the diode 18. The bulk capacitor 16 serves as a stored energy source that is depleted by the load, and additional energy is transferred from the inductor 14 to the bulk capacitor 16 during each T_(ON) interval.

For the Buck switching regulator, the ratio of the T_(ON) interval to the T_(S) interval (i.e., the summation of the T_(ON) and T_(OFF) intervals) is called a duty cycle of the regulator and generally governs the ratio of the V_(OUT) voltage to the V_(IN) voltage. Thus, to increase the V_(OUT) voltage, the duty cycle of the regulator may be increased, and to decrease the V_(OUT) voltage, the duty cycle may be decreased.

As an example, the regulator 10 may include a controller 15 (see FIG. 1) that regulates the V_(OUT) voltage by using a current mode control technique. In this manner, the controller 15 may include an error amplifier 23 that amplifies the difference between a reference voltage (called V_(REF)) and a voltage (called V_(P) (see FIG. 1)) that is proportional to the V_(OUT) voltage to produce an error voltage (called V_(CNTRL)) that is used to control the levels of the V_(OUT) voltage and the I_(L) inductor current.

The controller 15 uses the V_(CNTRL) voltage and a voltage (called V_(CS)) that indicates the I_(L) inductor current to produce the V_(SW) switch control signal to control the switch 20. More specifically, referring also to FIG. 5, the controller 15 may include a comparator 26 that compares the V_(CNTRL) and V_(CS) voltages. The V_(CS) voltage is provided by a differential amplifier 24 that senses the voltage difference (called V_(R)) across a current sensing resistor 29 that is coupled in series with the inductor 14.

The output terminal of the comparator 26 maybe coupled to a switch circuit 27 that generates the V_(SW) switch control signal. As an example of one type of current mode control, the switch circuit 27 may keep the T_(OFF) time interval constant and use the positive incline of the V_(CS) voltage to control the duration of the T_(ON) time interval. Thus, the T_(ON) time interval ends when the V_(CS) voltage reaches the V_(CNTRL) voltage and begins at the expiration of the constant T_(OFF) interval.

Due to the above-described arrangement, when the V_(OUT) voltage increases, the V_(CNTRL) voltage decreases and causes the duty cycle of the regulator 10 to decrease to counteract the increase in V_(OUT). Conversely, when the V_(OUT) voltage decreases, the V_(CNTRL) voltage increases and causes the duty cycle to increase to counteract the decrease in V_(OUT). When the average value, or DC component, of the I_(L) current increases, the DC component of the V_(CS) voltage increases and causes the duty cycle to decrease to counteract the increase in the I_(L) current. Conversely, when DC component of the I_(L) current decreases, the DC component of the V_(CS) voltage decreases and causes the duty cycle to increase to counteract the decrease in the I_(L) current. The switching frequency (i.e., 1/T_(S)) typically controls the magnitude of an AC ripple component (called V_(RIPPLE) (see FIG. 4)) of the V_(OUT) voltage, as a higher switching frequency typically reduces the magnitude of the V_(RIPPLE) voltage.

The regulator 10 is a single phase regulator. However, multiple regulators may be coupled in parallel to form a multiple phase voltage regulation system. In this manner, the input terminals of the regulators are coupled together, and the output terminals of the regulators are coupled together. The energization/de-energization cycles of the regulators are controlled so that the cycles are interleaved, or phased, with respect to each other. Such an arrangement is desirable because the phasing ensures that the entire voltage regulation system operates at a higher frequency than the frequency of any of the individual regulators.

The current sensing resistor 29 may occupy a substantial amount of printed circuit board space, may contribute significantly to the cost of the voltage regulation system, and may dissipate a significant amount of power especially in a multiple phase voltage regulator system that includes a multiple number of regulators and current sensing resistors 29.

Thus, there is a continuing need for an arrangement that addresses one or more of the problems that are stated above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a switching voltage regulator of the prior art.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are waveforms that illustrate operation of the regulator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a voltage regulation system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 depict waveforms illustrating operation of the voltage regulation system of FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 depicts waveforms illustrating a current mode control scheme according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an inductor of a regulator of the voltage regulation system of FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a controller of the voltage regulation system of FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a regulator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment 100 of a multiple phase voltage regulation system in accordance with the invention includes multiple Buck switching regulator stages, such as regulator stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂ (each having a similar design denoted by the reference numeral “102”), that are coupled together in parallel to convert an input voltage (called V_(IN)) into an output voltage (called V_(OUT) ). In this manner, both stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂ receive the V_(IN) input voltage and cooperate in a phased relationship with each other to regulate the V_(OUT) voltage that appears at an output terminal 107 (of the system 100) that is common to both of the stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂. The V_(IN) voltage may be provided by a voltage regulator that receives an AC wall voltage, for example and produces a DC voltage that is filtered by a low pass filter (formed from an inductor 114 and a capacitor 116) to form the V_(IN) input voltage. The stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂ share a bulk capacitor 109 in common, and the bulk capacitor 109 is coupled between the output terminal 107 and ground. As described below, the power subsystem 100 also includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller 104 that uses a current mode technique to control the operations of both stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂.

More particularly, in some embodiments of the invention, each stage 102 includes a switch 108 (a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOSFET), for example) that is coupled between the positive terminal of an input voltage line 118 (that provides the V_(IN) input voltage) and a terminal 123 of an inductor 106 (of the stage 102). The other terminal of the inductor 106 is coupled to the output terminal 107. For the stage 102 ₁, a switch control signal (called V₁) controls the state (open or closed) of the switch 108 and for the stage 102 ₂, a switch control signal (called V₃) controls the state (open or closed) of the switch 108.

For each stage 102, the closing of the switch 108 causes energy to be transferred from the input voltage line 118 and stored in the inductor 106 to energize the inductor 106, and the opening of the switch 108 causes the stored energy to be transferred from the inductor 106 to the output terminal 107, a transfer that de-energizes the inductor 106. In this manner, when the switch 108 is open, a diode 112 (that has its anode couple to ground and its cathode coupled to the terminal 123) conducts and/or a switch 110 (that is controlled via a switch control signal called V₂ (for the stage 102 ₁) or a switch control signal called V₄ (for the stage 102 ₂)) closes to couple the terminal 123 to ground to permit the flow of energy to the output terminal 107. Thus, the V₁ and V₂ signals are generally complementary signals (one has a logic one state when the other has a logic zero state and vice-versa), and the V₃ and V₄ signals are complementary signals.

In some embodiments of the invention, the controller 104 generates the V₁ and V₃ signals in a manner that causes the inductor energization/de-energization cycles of the two stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂ to be shifted 180° apart. Thus, the voltage regulation system 100 that is depicted in FIG. 6 is a two phase system. In other embodiments of the invention, the voltage regulation system may have a different number of phases (other than two), and in these embodiments, the controller 104 may generate signals to control the operation of the stages 102 so that the switch control signals have the proper phase relationship. As examples, for a three phase voltage regulation system (having three stages 102) the switch control signals to control the switching states of the three switches 108 are phased to place the energization/de-energization cycles 120° apart. For a four phase voltage regulation system, the switch control signals to control the four switches 108 are phased to place the energization/de-energization cycles 90° apart, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10, for the two phase design (assumed in the description below unless otherwise noted), the V₁ signal includes switching cycles 120 (see FIG. 7), each of which controls the switch 108 for a particular energization/de-energization cycle of the inductor 106 of the stage 102 ₁. In this manner, each switching cycle 120 includes a pulse 130 that causes the switch 108 of the stage 102 ₁ to conduct and has a duration that sets the on time (called T_(ON)) of the switching cycle 120. In some embodiments of the invention, the controller 104 controls the duration of the pulse 130 (i.e., controls the T_(ON) on time) to regulate the V_(OUT) voltage and sets a fixed duration for the off time (called T_(OFF)) of the switch 108. Therefore, for the example that is depicted in FIG. 7, the pulse 130 lasts from the beginning (at time T₀) of the switching cycle 120 to time T₁. Time T₂ marks the midpoint of the switching cycle 120, and the switch 108 of the stage 102 ₁ remains off (from time T₁) until time T₃, the time at which the switching cycle 120 ends. As depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8, the V₁ and V₂ signals are complementary.

For the other stage 102 ₂, the V₃ signal includes switching cycles 122 that are complementary to the switching cycles 120, as the stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂ operate 180° out of phase. In this manner, as depicted in FIG. 9, a particular switching cycle 122 begins at time T₃ at the expiration of the switching cycle 120. Each switching cycle 122 includes a pulse 132 in which the switch 108 of the stage 102 ₂ conducts and has a duration that sets the on time of the switching cycle 122. When the switching cycle 122 elapses, another switching cycle 120 occurs, then another switching cycle 122 occurs, etc. As depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10, the V₃ and V₄ signals are complementary.

Unlike conventional systems, the system 100 uses a current mode control technique without using explicit current sensing devices (such as current sensing resistors) to sense inductor currents in the stages 102. Instead, the system 100 uses the inductor 106 of each stage 102 as a current sensing element. In this manner, as described below, the PWM controller 104 measures the voltage (called V_(L1) (see FIG. 11) for the stage 102 ₁ called V_(L2) (see FIG. 12) for the stage 102 ₂) across each inductor 106 and uses these measured inductor voltages to sense the inductor currents in the stages 102 ₁ and 102 ₂.

More specifically, as described below, the controller 104 uses a particular voltage of an inductor to reconstruct the current in the inductor. For example, for the stage 102 ₁, the controller 104 uses the V_(L1) voltage to construct a representation of the current (called I_(L1) and depicted in FIG. 13) in the inductor 106. As an example, the controller 104 may set an upper limit (called I_(C)) on the I_(L1) current and operate the switch 108 accordingly. In this manner, the controller 104 may establish a constant off time for the switch 108 of the stage 102 ₁ and establish the on time as the time for the I_(L1) current to rise from its minimum value to the I_(C) current. As described below, the level of the I_(C) current may vary with the level of the V_(OUT) voltage. The controller 104 may also construct a representation of the current (called I_(L2)) of the inductor 106 of the stage 102 ₂ from the V_(L2) inductor voltage and control the operation of the switch 108 of the stage 102 ₂ in a similar manner.

The controller 104 may use various other current mode control schemes, depending on the particular embodiment of the invention. However, regardless of the type of current mode control that is used, the controller 104 uses the V_(L1) and V_(L2) inductor voltages to sense the I_(L1) and I_(L2) currents.

For purposes of constructing the inductor's current from its voltage, the controller 104 models the inductor according to an electrical model 106 that is depicted in FIG. 14. As shown, the inductor may be modeled as an ideal winding 142 (that produces an AC voltage called V_(AC)) that is in series with an inherent winding resistor 140 (that produces a DC voltage called V_(DC)) that is introduced by the inherent winding resistance of the inductor. In this manner, the controller 104 derives the AC component of the inductor current from the V_(AC) component via integration and derives the DC component of the inductor current from the V_(DC) component.

More specifically, FIG. 15 depicts a possible embodiment of circuitry 105 a (see FIG. 6) of the controller 104 to generate the V₁ and V₂ switch control signals. In this manner, the PWM controller 104 includes the circuitry 105 a (see FIG. 6) to receive the V_(L1) voltage (via sense lines 113 and 115 that are coupled to different terminals of the inductor 106) and generates the V₁ and V₂ switch control signals, and the PWM controller 104 includes circuitry 105 b (see FIG. 6) to receive the V_(L2) voltage (via sense lines 113 and 115) and generate the V₃ and V₄ switch control voltages. The circuitry 105 a and 105 b communicates with each other for purposes of interleaving the respective switching cycles. Because the circuitry 105 a has a similar design to the circuitry 105 b, only the design of the circuitry 105 a is described below.

As depicted in FIG. 15, in some embodiments of the invention, the circuitry 105 a includes a differential amplifier 158 that has its input terminals coupled to the sense lines 113 and 115 to receive the V_(L1) inductor voltage. Thus, the output terminal of the differential amplifier 158 furnishes a signal that is indicative of the V_(L1) inductor voltage. A low pass filter (LPF) 160 of the circuitry 105 a filters the signal from the output terminal of the differential amplifier 158 to provide a signal (at its output terminal) that indicates the DC component of the I_(L1) inductor voltage and thus, indicates the DC component of the inductor current. A bandpass filter (BPF) 162 of the circuitry 105 filters the signal that is provided by the output terminal of the differential amplifier 162 to provide a signal (at its output terminal) that indicates the AC component of the V_(L1) inductor voltage. An integrator 164 integrates the signal at the output terminal of the BPF 162 to produce a signal that indicates the AC component of the I_(L1) inductor current. An adder 166 of the circuitry 105 receives the signals from the output terminals of the LPF 160 and the integrator 164 and furnishes a signal (called V_(IL1)) at its output terminal that indicates the I_(L1) inductor current.

In some embodiments of the invention, the circuitry 105 a includes a comparator 168 that compares the V_(IL1) signal with a signal (called V_(C)) that sets the maximum level of the I_(L1) inductor current. In some embodiments of the invention, the V_(C) signal is furnished by the output terminal of an error differential amplifier 170 that compares the V_(OUT) voltage with a reference voltage (called V_(REF)). Due to this arrangement, the signal at the output terminal of the comparator 168 indicates when the switch 108 should be opened and closed, as the signal transitions between states when the V_(IL1) voltage reaches the V_(C) voltage to indicate the end of the on time interval. A switch circuit 172 is coupled to the output terminal of the comparator 168 and is also coupled to the circuitry 105 b to control the on and off time switching intervals (based on the signal at the output terminal of the comparator 168) during the appropriate switching cycle.

Referring to FIG. 16, in some embodiments of the invention, the voltage regulation system 100 may furnish power (via one or more voltage communication lines that extend from the output terminal 107, for example) to a processor 401 and other components of a computer system 400. In this context, the term “processor” may refer to, as examples, to at least one microcontroller, X86 microprocessor, Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) microprocessor or Pentium microprocessor. Other types of processors are possible and are within the scope of the following claims.

The processor 401 may be coupled to a local bus 402 along with a north bridge, or memory hub 404. The memory hub 422 may represent a collection of semiconductor devices, or a “chip set,” and provide interfaces to a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus 416 and an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus 410. The PCI Specification is available from The PCI Special Interest Group, Portland, Oreg. 97214. The AGP is described in detail in the Accelerated Graphics Port Interface Specification, Revision 1.0, published on Jul. 31, 1996, by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif.

A graphics accelerator 412 may be coupled to the AGP bus 410 and provide signals to drive a display 414. The PCI bus 416 may be coupled to a network interface card (NIC) 420, for example. The memory hub 404 may also provide an interface to a memory bus 406 that is coupled to a system memory 408.

A south bridge, or input/output (I/O) hub 424, may be coupled to the memory hub 404 via a hub link 422. The I/O hub 424 represents a collection of semiconductor devices, or a chip set, and provides interfaces for a hard disk drive 438, a CD-ROM drive 440 and an I/O expansion bus 426, as just a few examples. An I/O controller 428 may be coupled to the I/O expansion bus 426 to receive input data from a mouse 432 and a keyboard 434. The I/O controller 428 may also control operations of a floppy disk drive 430.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, in other embodiments of the invention, a topology (a forward, flyback or a Boost converter topology, as examples) other than a Buck converter topology may be used for each stage 102. A multiple phase converter (three phase or a four phase converter, as examples) other than a two phase converter may be used, in other embodiments of the invention. A single converter stage may be used in some embodiments of he invention. Other control schemes than the current mode control scheme described herein may be used in some embodiments of the invention. Other variations are possible.

Thus, in some embodiments of the invention, a switching regulator 500 (FIG. 17) includes an inductive element 502 to provide a first voltage across the element, at least one switch 504 and a controller 506. The switch or switches 504 energize and de-energize the inductive element 502 to produce an output voltage. The controller 506 constructs an indication 508 of a current from the first voltage and operates the switch or switches 504 to regulate the output voltage in response to the indication 508.

While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A switching regulator comprising: an inductive element to provide a first voltage across the element, the first voltage including an inductive voltage component; at least one switch to energize and de-energize the inductive element to produce an output voltage; and a controller to: measure the first voltage, construct an indication of a current using at least the inductive voltage component of the first voltage, and operate said at least one switch to regulate the output voltage in response to the indication.
 2. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the current comprises a current in the inductive element.
 3. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the current comprises a DC component of a current in the inductive element.
 4. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the current comprises an AC component of a current in the inductive element.
 5. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the controller operates said at least one switch in response to the indication to implement a current mode control scheme.
 6. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the inductive element includes a resistance and the first voltage comprises a voltage drop across the resistance.
 7. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises: a low pass filter to receive an indication of the first voltage and produce a component of the indication of the current in the inductive element.
 8. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises: a band pass filter to receive an indication of the first voltage and produce a signal; and an integrator to integrate the signal to produce a component of the indication of the current in the inductive element.
 9. The switching regulator of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises: an integrator to integrate an indication of the first voltage to produce a component of the indication of the current in the inductive element.
 10. A method comprising: providing a first voltage across an inductive element, the first voltage including an inductive voltage component; energizing and de-energizing the inductive element to produce an output voltage; constructing an indication of a current using at least the inductive voltage component of the first voltage; and in response to the indication, controlling the energizing and de-energizing of the inductive element to regulate the output voltage.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the energizing and de-energizing comprises: operating a switch coupled to the inductive element.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the current comprises a current in the inductive element.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the current comprises a DC component of a current in the inductive element.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the current comprises an AC component of a current in the inductive element.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling comprises using a current mode control scheme.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the constructing comprises: filtering the voltage using a low pass filter to produce a DC component of the current.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the constructing comprises: filtering the voltage using a band pass filter to produce a signal; and integrating the signal to produce an AC component of the current. 